Revealed: the best tech of the last 12 months

Who won the gongs in the TechRadar Awards 2010?

We're proud to announce the winners of the inaugural TechRadar Awards, sponsored by Intel, DTS and Qualcomm.

And you should be proud too - the awards were voted for by you.

Over 75,000 votes were cast by TechRadar readers choosing their favourite tech of the last 12 months.

Apple, iPlayer, Windows 7 and more

Apple walks away with seven of the 18 awards, but the signs are that it won't be having all its own way during 2010 – the computing categories were dominated by Intel, Microsoft and Google, while in Mobile Communications HTC and the Android Market had a good showing.

And the latest version of Apple's operating system – OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - was beaten hands down by Microsoft's Windows 7, which stormed our software category.

The other big winner was the BBC iPlayer, which walks away with our "Most essential online innovation award" as well as being voted the "Most innovative home entertainment platform".

It beat some stiff competition in both categories, including Sky+HD, Xbox Live, Spotify and Google Street View.

We'll be taking an in-depth look at how the votes fell later on, but without further ado, here are the winners:

Computing

Computing technology championGoogle

Computing technology of the yearIntel Core i5

Hottest mobile computing innovationApple MacBook Pro

Most essential online innovationBBC iPlayer

Most essential software innovationMicrosoft Windows 7

Best computing add-on technologyWestern Digital My Book World Edition

Home Entertainment

Greatest visual innovationSony Bravia KDL-46X4500 LED TV

Greatest audio innovationPioneer EX Series 5.1

Most exciting gaming techSony PlayStation 3 Slim

Most innovative home entertainment platformBBC iPlayer

Mobile Communications

Mobile technology championApple

Essential phone of the yearApple iPhone 3GS

Most innovative mobile app of the yearALK Co-Pilot Live 8 for iPhone and Android